Northwest NEWS

June 14, 1999

Council 'benchwarmers' will replace Treen, Brady

Debbie Treen.

Wendy Brady.

by Marshall Haley, staff reporter

BOTHELL--Two former Bothell mayors and two former Bothell City Councilmembers make up a pool of candidates from which current councilmembers will select replacements to fill the vacancies of Mayor Debbie Treen and Deputy Mayor Wendy Brady.

The Council will hold a discussion on how to fill the posts on Monday, June 14, and expect to administer oaths of office to the two selected volunteers at that meeting.

Two-term mayor John Curtin was Treen's immediate predecessor, and Paul Cowles served one term before Curtin. Pat Pierce and Sue Kienast have also recently served on the City Council.

Both vacant positions will be filled by the volunteers through December. Brady's term was up this year, so the person elected to that position in November will serve a normal four-year term, starting next January. Treen's elected successor will only serve a two-year stint, since she had two and one-half years left on her term when she resigned last week.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Noblet said he believes the majority of the remaining council will favor appointing two replacements who will require a minimal learning curve to get up to speed on current issues before the Council.

"We can take two approaches," said Noblet. "One, we can go through a long process of opening this up to all interested parties. Two, we can choose former councilmembers. I know when I started, although my ego wanted to pretend I could do the job well immediately, it took me over six months to learn the governmental process and get used to working with other councilmembers. I think we owe it to Bothell to appoint experienced people who can more quickly help us achieve quorum, so the governmental process is not hampered."

Noblet said he hopes to retain the Mayor Pro-Tem post, and intends to throw his hat in the ring for mayor next January.